Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.

HISTORY OF KITES

The exact date and origin of the kite is not known but it is believed that they were flown in China more than two thousand years ago

The earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B. C The earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the defenses. Knowing this distance his troops reached the inside of the city, surprised their enemy, and were victorious.

During the Silla Dynasty of Korea around the year 600, General Gim Yu-sin was ordered to subdue a revolt. However, his troops refused to fight. They had seen a large shooting star fall from the sky and believed it to be a bad omen. To regain control, the General used a large kite to carry a fire ball into the sky. The soldiers, seeing the star return to heaven, rallied and defeated the rebels.

Kites were brought to Japan about the 7th century by Buddhist monks. They were used to ward off evil spirits and to insure rich harvests.

When the Japanese were building some of the early temples & shrines they used large kites to lift tiles and other materials to the workmen on the roofs. Ancient stories of fire breathing Dragons were probably a windsock type of kite flown by soldiers in the middle ages which had burning tar in the mouth opening to frighten the enemy in battle.

The earliest evidence of Indian kite flying comes from miniature paintings from the Mogul Period around 1500. A favorite theme was of a young man skillfully using his kite to drop messages to a lover who was being held in strict seclusion.

Polynesia Kite Fishing There are many stories about how the people of Micronesia used leaf kites to carry bait far out over the water where the gar-fish fed.

In 1749 Benjamin Franklin began to study the atmosphere with kites. The "lightning attractor" or "Franklin rod," was invented as part of his groundbreaking explorations of electricity. . Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity.

George Pocock—TRACTION KITING In 1822 school teacher George Pocock used a pair of kites to pull a carriage at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. Some of his kite trips were recorded at over 100 miles. Because road taxes at the time were based on the number of horses a carriage used, he was exempted from any tolls!

In 1847 a great gorge divided two communities In 1847 a great gorge divided two communities. They thought a bridge would be a big boost to the local economy. They had the technology to build the bridge, but were at a loss as to how to get the very important first line across the gorge. The steep cliffs, mighty rapids, and frigid swirling winds hindered any conventional methods. The engineers organized a kite-flying contest.

Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Fifteen year old Homan Walsh tried several times to fly his kite, "the Union“ across the 800 foot gorge. His first attempts were not successful, but after repairing his kite Homan did win the contest—and the $5 prize. And his kite string was the first line for the bridge that would be the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge

During the Civil War, the Union Army used kites to drop leaflets behind the front lines, urging the Confederate Army troops to surrender.

The US Weather service flew kites designed by William Eddy and Lawrence Hargraves to raise meteorological instruments and cameras and people.

In 1894 weather kites were used to bring recording instruments to high levels. Temperature, pressure, humidity and winds were observed from kites

WRIGHT BROTHERS While Lawrence Hargrave was devising his box kite in Australia, Wilbur and Orville were looking for an unstable craft that could be controlled by steering. With the influence of the Hargrave Box Kite the Wright brothers worked at achieving the ability to steer with the invention of their “wing-warping lateral control.” In 1900, they built their "No. 1 Glider", which they principally flew as a kite.

Hargrave-Martin box kites as used at Mount Weather Observator 1906 Virginia, Mount Weather

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL developed the tetrahedral kite. The tetrahedron is theoretically the strongest, most rigid symmetrical structure that can exist in nature. One kite was made of 3,393 cells

During World War I, the British, French, Italian, and Russian armies all used kites for enemy observation and signaling. Pilots lost at sea raised the Gibson-Girl Box kite so they could be found. Harry Saul's Barrage Kite prevented airplanes from flying too low over targets.

In 1942 Lieutenant Commander Paul E In 1942 Lieutenant Commander Paul E. Garber made a kite and challenged a gun crew on the carrier USS Block Island to use it as a target. To the crew's exasperation, they had to fire many rounds before making a direct hit. The captain ordered Paul to build more target kites. As the gunners improved their shooting accuracy, Garber modified an Eddy Kite (diamond shaped) that could swing across the sky, loop, dive, climb and do figure eights. Hundreds of thousands of such kites were used in training gunners, at a great savings to the US Government in money and manpower. Garber also used winged, triangular box kites (signal kites) to pass important papers from ship to aircraft. A cable with the package attached was strung between two kites. A passing aircraft would snare the cable with a hook and deliver the package to it's destination

Photo of a NASA Parawing designed to to provide land-landing capability for manned spacecraft. Francis M. Rogallo developed the Parawing

In 1972 Peter Powell introduced a steerable Diamond kite dual line stunter and the public began to fly kites not only for fun, but also for sport.

The Single Kite Altitude Record of 14,509 Ft The Single Kite Altitude Record of 14,509 Ft. was set by Richard Synergy in Kincardine, Ontario, August 12, 2000 Richard's Delta Kite the "Millibar Messenger" gets ready for take off.

In January of 2009, the MS Beluga set sail on its maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to Venezuela where it showed, quite successfully, that wind power might just be the future of nautical transportation

1749 Alexander Wilson flew a kite train to record air temperatures at different altitudes. 1752 Ben Franklin proved there was electricity in lightning. 1804 George Cayley developed the concept of heavier-than-air flight. His glider was a modified arch top kite. 1827 George Pocock used kites to pull a horseless carriage. 1847 A kite flown by Homan Walsh, age 15, aided in the bridge over the Niagara River. 1893 The Eddy Diamond and the Hargraves Box raised scientific instruments for weather research. 1899 The Wright Brothers used kites to test their theories for the first flying machine (airplane).

1901 Guglielmo Marconi used a kite to lift an aerial to make his historical radio link between North America and Europe. 1902 The French Military (Conyne) Kite raised military observers. 1903 The Wright Brothers flew the first manned flying machine. 1906 Kites lifted a camera to take aerial photographs of damage caused by the San Francisco earthquake. 1907 Dr. Alexander Graham Bell flew a man carrying kite made up of over 3,000 tetrahedral cells. 1919 A German flew a kite train to an altitude of 31,955 feet. 1939 - 1945 The Gibson Girl Box, Garber's Target Kite and Saul's Barrage Kite were all used in World War II.

1948 Francis Rogallo patented his Flexi-wing kite, the forerunner of the hang glider and delta kite. 1954 William Allison, Dayton, Ohio, patented his "Flexible Flyer", now known as the SLED Kite 1964 Domina Jalbert designed the parafoil. His concepts have been adapted for parachutes and NASA 1975 Peter Powell introduced his dual line stunt kite. 1978 Kuzuhiko Asaba flew 4,128 kites on a single line. 1989 Kite flying becomes a sport with the establishment of a National Stunt Kite Circuit.

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.